Let's Get Local

Google Seeks Patent for Targeting Ads on Wi-Fi Hotspots:
"Location-based search, especially for mobile users, has broad implications for content providers and advertisers. Geographically targeting users at such a precise level could benefit local advertisers especially, or those that have products that might be available locally. Marketers could also use profiles of the neighborhood as a basis for targeting ads. "

Geo-targeting is beginning to play a role in more and more of my client's marketing campaigns. This idea from Google gets the wheels spinning with multiple possibilities. Not only can you geo-target by the access point, having the ability to target someone specifically at a Starbucks or maybe even someone at an airport. This capability really gives you the opportunity to hit primary demographics.

This capability may also encourage more companies to offer free or discounted Wi-Fi. Franchises like McDonald's and BK should maybe consider creating an atmosphere that encourages customers to hang out more and sit a while. Have that second bag of fries and surf the web.

Why You Don't Rank on Search Engines

Why You Don't Rank on Search Engines:
"'Why would anyone want to link to my site?' Be brutal. Write down as many reasons as you can about why other sites should link to you. If you can't convince yourself another site would want to link to you, you seriously need to question what your value proposition is and how your site promotes it (or not, as the case may be)."

As someone responsible for bringing in new business, I find myself conflicted when sitting in front of a prospect who is telling me that they want to rank high in the search engines. This article is really spot on! What do you have on your site that would make someone want to link to you? Just because you sell more widgets than the next company is not compelling. Not only that, it is not a web strategy either. Why don't more organizations build their web sites to contain the same type of information that we all want to find when we surf the web?

How Not to Work With an SEO/SEM Firm

I read this article a while ago and wanted to blog on this topic for some time. I love this part of the article where the prospect actually believes they have the right to be listed on top of the SERP due to their brand strength.

How Not to Work With an SEO/SEM Firm:

"I once asked a prospect if he felt entitled to be on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Los Angles Times every day -- without the need to follow any publication guidelines. Unfortunately, he said, 'Of course I do. Who wouldn't?' I chose not to work with this person. If he had unrealistic expectations about appearing in major newspapers, he had unrealistic expectations about appearing in major search engines."

Believe it or not, this is extremely common. Some companies actually believe that search engines should rank them first just based purely on their market leadership. While I don't also agree with this author, I do agree with the statement that rankings have to be earned. I also believe that if you are in fact a market leader in your vertical, your behavior in terms of how you represent yourself on the web should reflect as such.

Achieving success in natural search (SEO) continues to be a moving target and requires dedication, especially if you want to stay on the first page. Working closely with your IT department is critical and as a marketing person, you need to have some pull when it comes to getting your SEO recommendations implemented as a priority.

Search engine visibility plays a role in almost all business and consumer buying decisions these days. Marketers need to embrace this and develop a strategy to get on Page 1 and stay there. My company recently won a piece of web development business which all started by appearing on the first page of Google for the key phrase "natural listings".

Never under estimate the power of SEO!!!

How to Cope With SEM Staffing Shortages, Part 1

How to Cope With SEM Staffing Shortages, Part 1: "If you opt to build an internal team to manage search, you probably won't be able to find one person with all the skills necessary to execute a best-of-breed campaign, even with help from the search engine account staff. "

Yes, this article is written by the CEO of a company that provides search services. And yes, his company as well as mine, will profit from the outsourcing of search. That said, please go ahead and read this article and I am sure you will recognize the issues if you have tried to do search in house. For 3 years I have been saying that it is more than just technology. People make the biggest difference. I even wrote on this a few months ago on my blog Click Here


The shortage of talented search professionals will be growing issue in 2006. Better find that SEM firm before the management fees start rising. APZ

TV Advertising, Search, and the Google Cube

TV Advertising, Search, and the Google Cube: "TV and search are inexorably linked and may become more so in the future."

This is one of my favorite topics lately. The impact of TV advertising on search. I have seen numerous instances of search programs being effected significantly by television. This article brings up a few good points on the need to make sure your search program is aware of the media schedule for television.

Integration will be more than just a buzz word in 2006. If you are an interactive marketing manager, you would do well to make sure your search program is sync'd up with your company's offline advertising. Good luck... APZ

An SEM Diet for the New Year?

I was attracted to the article (link below) mostly due to the title. Something about the new year that makes me feel like I can start fresh and improve on the areas of my life and forget all my past mistakes. I wish it were that simple.

If you are thinking about making 2006 the year you get your act together and leverage search engine marketing, please DON'T start by reading this article. The author sends you right to your log files to see what keywords are driving the most traffic to your site. Chances are, this is a very limited sample and if it isn't then you probably don't have effective search marketing on your news year's to do list.

I would use a few other tools for keyword analysis. In addition to the suggestion tools at the engines themselves, I would like at the searching being done on my site for keyword possibilities. What are users looking for when they get to your site? The rest of the ideas in the article are pretty basic but you won't get much out of this unless you are just starting out. APZ


An SEM Diet for the New Year?

Click To Call

Well I guess it was only a matter of time before Google got into this game. Many of my clients are realizing the power of adding an 800# to the landing page from paid search adds. The key, of course, is to be able to track the results back to the keyword for optimization purposes. One step at a time I guess. APZ

Welcome to BtoBOnline.com: "Google is testing yet another part of the search engine field with a new system, click-to-call,that relies on the telephone to connect advertisers with potential customers. "

The Pendulum Theory

At some point in my sales career I was introduced to “The Pendulum Theory”. It is a vicious cycle that most sales people fall victim too. The concept is significantly easier to understand then finding a solution.

If you are in sales you are well aware that every aspect of the sales cycle is tracked and measured. When a sales person begins their career or starts a new sale job, the first thing they do is pound the pavement and speak to as many prospects as possible to fill the sales funnel with new opportunities. These prospect meetings ultimately produce opportunities to deliver a proposal which in turn will result in a number of sales. The pendulum swings and reaches a high point. As the sales person begins to spend more time writing proposals and closing new business their attention moves away from prospect meetings. It is extremely challenging for the sales person to maintain a high number of new prospect meetings during this stage of the sales cycle. As a result, the funnel begins to dry up and the pendulum changes direction and begins a down swing. Depending on the length of the sales cycle from prospect meeting to close, the sales person finds themselves at a point where they need to increase the level of prospect meetings again and the cycle starts all over.

Needless to say, this is a frustrating cycle to the sales person and has significant impact on a small to midsize organization. Wouldn’t we all love to have a steady incline of sales performance? Nirvana is not as easily attained as it sounds.

So what can a sales person do to reduce the effects of “The Pendulum Theory “? Here are a few disciples that can be followed but they are far from easy. My first suggestion is to respect the sales cycle and make every effort to add balance to your sales approach. Sales people should establish a goal of new meetings with prospects each month. The goal set should be attainable under the busiest of work conditions. No matter what is in the pipeline, a high priority has to be placed on reaching your new prospect meeting goal.

Another key discipline is the dedication to time management. It is so hard to block out time to prospect and conduct new meetings when your opportunities are in the final stages of the sales cycle, but if you are going to avoid falling victim to the pendulum theory, it is a must. Defining true sales activities from non sales activities is a critical piece of the puzzle. Client and prospect interaction should be done during business hours. Presentation and proposal development can be done before and after business hours.

Pursuit of the right type of opportunities is also critical to defeating the pendulum. Make sure that each opportunity has a high probability to close. I know, easier said than done but the effort must exist.
The final disciple I’ll share in this post is patience. Some would say that a patient sales person is not going to meet their quota. I disagree! Sales people should be aggressive with their client in an effort to close the sale but if that becomes the focus of all your efforts, something will suffer. That something is usually the filling of the funnel.

In summary, add balance, good time management skills and patience to your sales efforts and you will reap the rewards of a successful sales career. I hope the readers of this post will consider contributing their experiences.

My Technology Is Better Than Yours

I read an interesting article today from Mediapost. The writer basically mocked all the SEM firms about how each thinks their technology is better than their competitors. He is totally right! Bid management is bid management. It is a must have in the industry but it is really all the same. I mean really... how much different can your bid change be from my bid change? And the best is watching clients try to figure out who has the best bid management technology.

The article did say one other thing that I believe hits the nail on the head.

"...the best SEM firms live and die on the same value proposition that the best agencies live and die on - the relationships they attain and nurture with their major clients. If you want to find a great SEM, talk to the brands you respect that work with them."

Hire and SEM based on the people working there and you will find your program performing at the level it should. Go with the company with the cool technology presented by the president of the company and you will find yourself on hold waiting for someone to talk to that might understand your business. Good luck...

SEM and Site Usability

SEM and Site Usability: "Unfortunately, many SEM firms are more focused on top positions than on building user-friendly, persuasive sites that convert visitors into buyers. They don't want to worry about usability and conversions. They only care about positioning. Perhaps if their technical staff had more design and usability skills, agencies wouldn't worry so much about search marketers ruining site design."

There finally seems to be more of a move toward building usability into a site redesign project. But this article talks about adding usability for purposes of better search engine optimization. GREAT POINT!!!

As paid placement costs continue to rise, marketers need to find more of that great traffic that converts. The savvy ones are willing to invest time and money in usability but maybe now the rest will follow if they can see the impact in natural search.

That sounds like a new sales angle for usability... I know my usability expert will be happy.

Blog Advertising: Right for You?

Blog Advertising: Right for You?:

"Ads That Work Successfully on Blogs"

"Blog ads must have a human voice; they must connect with people. Ads focused on special offers or incentives won't work on blogs because they lack substance and humanity. 'Recycling creative from campaigns run on MSNBC.com or MTV.com is a mistake,' cautions Copeland."

I have been slowly working on my blog all the while not exactly sure what role this will play in my business or for my clients. There have been more than a few times where I have wondered how we could leverage blogs from a marketing and advertising perspective. This article actually brings out a few good ideas.

If your blog traffic gains some momentum, there could be enough traffic to begin placing ads on the site. My initial thoughts are to use text base ads such as Google's Ad Sense but I won't put boundaries on this just yet. I will be interesting to see how this develops.

Nonconverting Keywords and the Search Continuum, Part 1

Nonconverting Keywords and the Search Continuum, Part 1:

"What if I were to tell you the majority of online purchases from search advertising happen after a searcher has conducted at least 12 nonconverting searches? Imagine, 12 searches on keywords that don't produce a single transaction. But these eventually led to a search that does.

What would you do differently? How would you change your pay-per-click (PPC) bidding strategy?

A recent study conducted by comScore and sponsored by Overture suggests exactly that. If you believe the data, it has broad implications for search advertising campaigns. "

We have been working diligently to expand search programs by finding more keywords that produce conversion. As I meet with my clients to discuss strategy, the one topic that keeps coming up is to look at the search programs from a higher view point. It is my belief that searchers will conduct more searches and respond to more ads before they buy. This forces us to look at those non-converting keywords differently.

An example is my recent quest for a wireless mini mouse for my laptop to use when I am away from my desk. My search started with general terms such as wireless mouse then moved to more specific terms like Targus mouse and then eventually a model #. I clicked on several ads and am now ready to purchase. If the advertiser was not there for the general terms, I would not have found the term that will ultimately lead to conversion.

Focus too heavily on the terms with conversion and your overall sales will drop. Sure, your conversion rate will be high, but the volume will suffer.

Search Engine APIs: Right for You?

Search Engine APIs: Right for You?: "It's great the engines recognize that when billions of dollars a year flow through an auction marketplace, automated control APIs are a necessity, as they are on Wall Street. But like Wall Street, technology alone won't make you a millionaire. The right strategy, information, calculations, timing, and knowledge combine with technology to create winners."

The level of sofisticaiton in search engine marketing has increased significantly over the last 12-24 months within service providers as well as marketers. This article brings out a few good points but I caution the marketers on getting caught up in the appeal of such technologies.

It is my first hand experience that marketers have started to become more reliant on the technology and have abandoned the fundamentals. This applies not only to the new API's but also with bid management. It is first and foremost critical to a campaign's success to know the metrics. Business objectives change frequently and too much automation can work against a shift in business goals.

Of all the successful campaigns I have been a part of, there are a few commom traits between them. Sticking to the game plan is one of them. Rapid changes in direction based on what a competitor is doing with their bid strategy can send a campaign off course.

Find more of what works!!! Rather than engage in a bid war over a handful of keywords, use the results of your program to identify new opportunities. Expand the keywords to longer phrases, use mis-spellings, leverage more content... If your campaign relies too heavily on a small subset of keywords, you are very vulnerable.

More to come on this topic... APZ

SEO and Paid Search Campaigns: Share the Data!

Here is more on the stance that companies should hire 1 vendor that can handle all 3 aspects of search (paid placement, paid inclusion and natural). There is also a little shot against the traditional agency who typically handles the paid placement and treats it like a media buy.


SEO and Paid Search Campaigns: Share the Data!:

"Companies often hire multiple vendors to manage SEM campaigns. One firm, often a traditional agency, manages the paid search advertising spend; another executes an SEO or site-side optimization campaign; and in some cases, a third firm manages paid inclusion feeds into Yahoo!'s OSMX program. There's nothing wrong with this strategy, except these companies often don't -- or won't -- share information."

Using Paid Search Engine Advertising for Better SEO Campaigns

Yet another article that indirectly supports the position that your search provider should not just do natural SEO but also have the ability to do paid placement and paid inclusion programs as well. There are so many key findings from one aspect of search that will another.

Using Paid Search Engine Advertising for Better SEO Campaigns:

"SEOs know most search engines display up to 70 characters from a page's HTML title tag in search results. Smart SEOs write title tags that contain targeted keyword phrases people type into search queries that are also a call to action (CTA), such as clicking on a link to the Web page. Accomplishing both goals in only 70 characters isn't always a simple task.
One site we're currently redesigning uses the words 'find' and 'search' throughout the site. These are great keywords not only in terms of optimization but also because they're CTAs.
We came up with two samples of title-tag content:

Find payroll accounting software from XYZ Company (48 characters)

Search for payroll accounting software from XYZ Company (55 characters)"

Yes, Virginia, There Is SEM Brand Lift, Part 1

I have been meaning to post this article for weeks and now that I am finally getting around to it, I have additional thoughts on Search as a branding tool.

The article talks about the branding lift a marketer can receive with paid placement search marketing. That is great news but there is a down side. Beware... Search is addicting! I have some clients who started doing business with my company with the objective of increasing traffic to the site and giving their brand increased awareness. When we reviewed the early results of the program, the client became obsessed with search's ability to do more than brand. This awareness and visibility campaign is now turning into e-commerce, which is fine but not the original intent.

Whatever makes the customer happy is fine with me...

Yes, Virginia, There Is SEM Brand Lift, Part 1:

"This week, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Search Engine Effectiveness Committee published a study on the brand lift of textual paid search results. The results will knock your Christmas stockings off. Search can cause brand lift to soar!"

MediaPost Advertising & Media Directory

This is becoming one of my favorite topics. I have accumulated tons of agency contacts over the last few years but am still reluctant to call on them simply because many of them just don't get it. Dana Todd is exactly right in her statement below. But why don't they get it? This is the part that baffles me. A recent IAB study told us that 40% of the interactive budget is going to paid placement search marketing. The agencies are famous for chasing the money so why are they not better at this.

My theory on why agencies don't get it is because this is dirty work. Any good SEM firm will tell you that they work their butts off and are accountable for results. Hard core accountable for results. Most agencies measure success not by actual results but rather by awareness or visibility or some other fluffy metric.

I do have a couple of agency clients and although this is self serving, they have made the decision that I am their SEM guy. They do their thing and I do mine. The end result is a successful campaign and a happy client.

MediaPost Advertising & Media Directory:

"Dana Todd, co-founder of SEM firm SiteLab, said that this out-of-place feeling gives agencies something of an inferiority complex when it comes to SEM and SEO. They want to feel like they hold dominion over the entire campaign, and that outside firms are mere facilitators of that process. But Todd argued the reality is that the agency gets in the way of a campaign by unconsciously trying to over-exert its authority. 'You can't control what you don't understand,' she said. "

Search, Bigger Means Smaller (B2B Relavant)

I thought the analogy to TV with all the cable channels is not a new one but still very possible. I have actually used this analogy myself when referring to the advertising networks accross the web. This marketplace is so far from maturity in my opinion.

The part of the article most interesting to me is the B2B piece. It drives me crazy when I hear B2B companies say things like, " We can't use the web to drive new business in our industry..." Well guess what Mr., be prepared for the day when a more forward thinking competitor comes by and eats your lunch!!!

Search%3A Bigger Means Smaller:

"By smaller I mean I see search fragmenting into specialized niches. Hypersearch growth is channeling into increasingly more specialty and niche search players and opportunities. Just as three TV networks can't satisfy advertiser demand for inventory, or their need to reach very targeted niche audiences, a small number of generalized search engines can't be all things to all advertisers' marketers' or users."

Behavioral Targeting Study Reveals CPM Lift

Everyone hates the pop up ads and rightfully so... they are annoying. But the pops served through companies that specialize in behavior targeting are producing fantastic results. Why? My answer is execution. Do it right and make the ad relevant and it will work.

Behavioral Targeting Study Reveals CPM Lift:

"Researchers at AOL's Advertising.com found a definitive link between behaviorally targeted online ads and click-through (CTR) and conversion rates. The study, comprising 500 million impressions, examined three separate ad campaigns with the results indicating that users were most responsive to ads that drew upon their online behavior. The company declined to divulge specifics about the advertisers or their business categories. "

Why Won't Local Search Carry Its Weight?

Local search may not be all that effective today based on the way people use search. However, isn't it conceivable that the way people search will change. One of the biggest arguements against local search is that local advertisers are not present. Many local companies will never embrace the web but there are many successful companies that do. I think it is a little too soon to rule this out or call it a failure.

Why Won't Local Search Carry Its Weight?:

"What can the engines do to make this market grow more quickly? They must make lots of changes. They have to build the local databases so I can find all the bike shops in my neighborhood. And they must find a way to drive offline leads to local advertisers."